Sid Luckman

Never in my wildest dreams during my early years in New York did I expect to play professional football. Some good people's faith in me and a lot of hard work led to my exciting seasons as a Chicago Bear. My dream while I worked toward a bachelor of science degree at Columbia University between 1935 and 1939 was to become a doctor, if I could pay the tuition. And if I couldn't-and without money in the family, that seemed likely-my alternate plan was to get a job in industry. I already held three part-time...

Sid Luckman had George Halas. Otto Graham had Paul Brown. Joe Montana had Bill Walsh. Great NFL quarterbacks and their coaches — two seasoned football minds in lockstep with each other. Then there was "Dandy" Don Meredith and Tom Landry, the convergent Cowboys of Dallas. "A coach-quarterback relationship in which both men think as one is essential to winning, but that never happened between Landry and Meredith," recalled Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films. "Landry was studious and pensive,...

Saul "Solly" Sherman, who had been the oldest living former Bears player, passed away Sunday at 93. Sherman, a lifelong Chicagoan who grew up on the West Side, attended Marshall High School and played at the University of Chicago for Clark Shaughnessy. George Halas drafted Sherman in 1939 in part because he was familiar with the T-formation that Shaughnessy had pioneered. Sherman played two seasons for the Bears as a quarterback and defensive back. He played in the 1940 Pro Bowl and...

Saul "Solly" Sherman, who had been the oldest living former Bears player, passed away Sunday at 93. Sherman, a lifelong Chicagoan who grew up on the West Side, attended Marshall High School and played at the University of Chicago for Clark Shaughnessy. George Halas drafted Sherman in 1939 in part because he was familiar with the T-formation that Shaughnessy had pioneered. Sherman played two seasons for the Bears as a quarterback and defensive back. He played in the 1940 Pro Bowl and...

So, Jay Cutler is the first real quarterback the Bears have had since Sid Luckman. Well, let's just see about that. In the never-ending quest to compare Cutler with Luckman, RedEye sat down with 91-year-old Solly Sherman, Luckman's backup on the 1940 Bears championship team. He also played defensive back on that team. One of Sherman's claims to fame was his pass for a PAT in the NFL's most lopsided title game ever, a 73-0 victory over the Washington Redskins. Does it bother you that today's...

The Chicago Bears owe their name to the Chicago Cubs . The idea was that the brawny, upstart footballers were physically larger than Cubs — they were as big as Bears. Now the Chicago Bears are the biggest sports team in town. But it didn't begin that way. 1. The Bears were called the Decatur Staleys — sponsored by a downstate agri-businessman — when they helped organize pro football in 1920. The Staleys' first victory was against the Moline...

Tribune football writer Don Pierson hit the mark when he cited the absence of Sid Luckman on the all-time National Football League team. Mr. Luckman invented the quarterback position as we know it today and at the same time led the Bears to seven NFL championships. He belongs on that team by any standard of measurement and I call upon Bears fans, young and old, to let the NFL know they are outraged.

Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play man and Cris Collinsworth provides the commentary for NBC's "Sunday Night Football" broadcast of Bears at Packers. Michaels says ... One of the more intriguing things about this game is who will be the better quarterback down the line? People say Jay Cutler is going to be the reincarnation of the great Sid Luckman and the franchise quarterback the Bears have always wanted. In the meantime, Aaron Rodgers has moved in quietly, and he's a pretty darn good...

I don't live in Chicago anymore, so I just learned of the death of Sid Luckman (Hall of Fame quarterback who played for the Bears) through a national magazine. In 1954 I was a member of the Sullivan High School football team, which had just placed second in its division. I think it was the first time since the Civil War that a Sullivan football team had qualified for a public league award. To the delight of the team, the coach somehow had arranged for Sid Luckman to attend our awards luncheon and to award...

The Bears are the talk of the town, what with a new season kicking off Sunday night in Green Bay and the debut of much-hyped quarterback Jay Cutler. So how will they do this season? We surveyed a cross-section of fans -- some avid, some tepid: Eddie Ciganek, 28, Chicago "I look for a playoff appearance at the very least, but not a Super Bowl appearance. That's next year. They took a big step going out and...

I have been a Chicago Bears fan since Halas and Wrigley Field. Despite many fine teams and nine championships, they have too frequently lacked a top quarterback. In those 60-odd years, only four quality QBs stand out--Sid Luckman, Johnny Lujack, Bill Wade and Jim McMahon. I love the Bears, but they desperately need a high-caliber QB. I personally would make every effort to acquire Peyton Manning, Danny Wuerffel or Jake Plummer (in that order) short of trading the entire defensive unit.

So, Jay Cutler is the first real quarterback the Bears have had since Sid Luckman. Well, let's just see about that. In the never-ending quest to compare Cutler with Luckman, RedEye sat down with 91-year-old Solly Sherman, Luckman's backup on the 1940 Bears championship team. He also played defensive back on that team. One of Sherman's claims to fame was his pass for a PAT in the NFL's most lopsided title game ever, a 73-0 victory over the Washington Redskins. Does it bother you that today's...

RECORD --Jeff Graham catches seven passes for 75 yards to finish the season with a team record of 1,302 receiving yards. RECORD II--Erik Kramer throws for 2 TDs for a club record of 29 in a season, one better that Sid Luckman in 1943. CRUNCH -- Alonzo Spellman sacks Eagles quarterback Rodney Peete three times, forcing one fumble. MIXED RESULTS--Rashaan Salaam fumbles three times (nine fumbles this season) and sits out the fourth quarter after turning...

There is symmetry in the air, so breathe it. Only days after celebrating the 40th anniversary of America's lunar landing, we monitor the countdown for Jay Cutler. No later than 12:01 a.m. Friday, he will report to Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, not as exotic a location as the moon, but he shall be the big cheese regardless. It will be one small step for man, one giant leap for the Bears, who marked the 10th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's historic footprints...

Sid Luckman helped attract standing-room-only crowds to Wrigley Field during 1940-46, when he quarterbacked the Bears to four National Football League championships. He drew one final SRO crowd Wednesday at his funeral service on the North Side. Luckman, the greatest quarterback in Bears history, died Sunday in North Miami Beach, Fla., at 81. Wednesday's congregation cut across lines of religion, race, generation and economics. It included fans from the grandstand as well as the people who...

Everywhere but Halas Hall, it was a riot the other day when Brett Favre tried in vain to recite the 21 Bears quarterbacks who have started for his NFC North rival since his first game as a Packer. But innocent or not, Favre's routine openly mocked the Bears. Favre didn't intend to poke fun at anybody in response to a question, but every laugh -- and he was funny -- came at the Bears' expense. Every punch line should have felt like a punch to the gut for the franchise still looking for the next...

Let's see, Bronko Nagurski and Beattie Feathers, Bill Osmanski and George McAfee, Rick Casares and Willie Galimore, Galimore and Ronny Bull, Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo, Walter Payton and Matt Suhey, Payton and anybody. So why not try Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson in the backfield? Each can block, run and catch a pass. But more important, which player would the opponent's defense key on? If I were involved with the Bears, teaming Jones and Benson in the same backfield, at least once or twice, would be...

- Doug Atkins (1955-1966) The 6-foot-8 defensive end terrorized quarterbacks during a career that spanned 17 seasons and 205 games. - George Blanda (1949, 1950-58) Drafted by the Bears in 1949, he went on to throw 236 touchdowns and was also a successful place kicker. He was the league's all-time leading scorer with 2,002 points when he retired in 1976 at the age of 48. - Dick Butkus (1965-73) One of the greatest and most feared middle linebackers of all time, he wreaked havoc on opposing offenses.

My old friend Sid Luckman just did a neat 360 in his current resting place . . . just because some newspaper guy saw fit to quote a senile old man who was a little long on oatmeal recently. In 1940, Da Bears squashed the mighty Washington Redskins 73-0, despite the great triple threat Sammy Baugh, who Luckman himself called "the greatest quarterback who ever lived." If Pete Rose can be banned from baseball's Hall of Fame for maybe betting on a few games, then Baugh and his Hall of Fame teammates should...